Tuukka Rask made 35 saves for the Boston Bruins in their 2-1 Game 3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena.
“Rask is always calm and collected,” Bruins center Patrice Bergeron said. “Right now, he’s in the zone. He’s been amazing. He’s a huge reason why we’re here right now.”
The Finn made two saves on a flurry at the net early in the first period at the end of Brando Carlo‘s delay of game penalty. He made a right-pad save on Micheal Ferland before stopping Williams on the rebound.
Chris Wagner and Brad Marchand scored for the visitors, who can sweep the best-of-7 series with a win on Thursday. The Bruins are 22-1 in the playoffs when Marchand scores.
David Krejci had an assist on Marchand‘s goal for his 100th NHL playoff point (36g, 64a), tying Rick Middleton and Johnny Buyck for third in Boston history. Meanwhile Rask is 11-5 in the playoffs with a 1.96 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage.
Boston had two goals disallowed, the first came under review from Toronto but it was decided there was inconclusive evidence as to whether the puck had crossed the line, therefore the call on the ice of no goal stood. The second came in the third period, the call was no goal due to goaltender interference, Boston challenged but the original decision stood.
Calvin de Haan scored, and Curtis McElhinney made 29 saves for the hosts, who lost at home for the first time this postseason (5-1), and were 0-for-5 on the power play, having had four opportunities in the first period, including 45 seconds at 5-on-3.
McElhinney, who won the final three games of Carolina’s sweep of the New York Islanders in the second round and is 3-1 with a 1.70 GAA and .943 save percentage in the playoffs, started for the Hurricanes after they were outscored 11-4 in the first two games of the series with Petr Mrazek, who is usually so good it leaves fans wondering whether he’s been playing through that injury he picked up in the second round, in net.
Head coach Rod Brind’Amour said, “McElhinney was great… He gave us a chance tonight, and that is all you can ask. Rask was pretty special down at the other end. It was a good battle.”
Up Next:
Bruins v Canes – Thursday, May 16 (8pm – NBCSN)
ALL TIMES U.S. EASTERN
Artistry of Sport 
Leave a Reply